By Tyler Marr

Rock solid defence lands Comets title in tight 4A Girls final

Mar 24, 2018 | 11:40 PM

It was a one-point game late in the fourth quarter when Alexa Hangs-Copeland fired a three-pointer to take the Melfort Comprehensive Comets up by two over the Estevan Comprehensive Elecs.

Thirty-one seconds and two free throws later the Comets would secure a back-to-back 4A Girls Hoopla title in a tight 60 – 56 victory.

“We got that rebound on the reverse and I was wide open and I shot it and I wasn’t thinking and it went in,” Hangs-Copeland said after the win. “There were some scary moments, but we worked so hard and it feels so good.”

The electrifying game carried a revolving door of point-for-point plays, with each squad battling hard for possession and charging up and down to the court. A low scoring opening quarter saw the Elecs strike first and fall back on strong defensive play, limiting the Comets countless cannons at the glass, though Melfort would end ahead 10 – 6. 

Three-pointers galore in the second from the Elecs pulled them even and ahead early on, but the Comets took possession every chance they had and late push put them up 32 – 27 at the half. Strong outside play in an early push from Estevan in the third pulled them over a cooled down Comets 48 – 45 entering the final frame.

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“I just kept saying, ‘it is okay, girls it is going to go in,’” head coach Kelly Linnell said. “We missed so many easy shots in the first half and even in the third quarter we had a little lull and the ball wasn’t going in.”

And balls did start to find their way home. Estevan fell into foul trouble and chants of ‘D-D-D-Defence’ from the green and gold crowd packing the gymnasium at École St. Mary High School Saturday night fuelled up the Comets just enough to fend off countless backboard blasts from a charged up Elecs squad to hold on for the win.

Linnell said winning back-to-back gold medals was really special, more so after a decade-long Hoopla hiatus.

“We tried to tell the girls not to take it for granted, realizing that this doesn’t happen every year. Getting to Hoopla is a big accomplishment and winning it two years in a row is huge,” she said. “There were no guarantees…. You don’t know who is going to show up and play in that final game.”

Grade 12 Rachel Linnell was Melfort’s top scorer, netting 17 points. She simply said she was “numb” to the fact the team had taken consecutive titles.

“Tonight we wanted it and we got it,” she said. “We knew we could only control the things we could control so that is what we tried to focus on no matter what the other team did…. We knew we just had to play our game and that meant hard defence and getting the rebounds and pushing the ball up the floor.”

The Comets earned themselves the spot in the final with a commanding 63 – 45 win over the Moose Jaw Central Cyclones Friday night.

tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr